Fraser Dunbar
Fraser Dunbar is the main protagonist along with Dunny Dunbar and Hayley Risso in The Sound of Whales. He is currently a love interest to Hayley. Description He is first introduced to us when he and Ben McCaig are aboard a boat and fighting for survival. He is the son of Jessie Dunbar and brother to Dunny Dunbar. Personality Fraser is a kind boy, but sometimes can be judging. He is shown to judge others strongly by their personality, likes and actions. Such as when he disliked Dunny because he never spoke a word since as long as he could remember. He somewhat disliked Hayley at first, seeing her personality, but saw her as beautiful. He eventually opens up to Dunny and Hayley, with Dunny being the most noticeable. Fraser actually enjoyed Dunny being around, and after learning that he was a gairmie, he enjoyed their time together and somewhat admired him. He eventually no longer prompted for him to speak or talk to others, and when Dunny finally spoke a word, he joked that that word may be the only word Dunny knows, which shows that he no longer cares if Dunny speaks or not, strengthening their bond as brothers. His relationship with Hayley was somewhat vague. Although it was clear that they had a somewhat romantic relationship after the Ceilidh, it was never mentioned, only implied. Fraser from that point on enjoyed Hayley's company, and treated her more like an old friend, whereas when he first met her, Fraser outlined that she was beautiful and was somewhat hostile towards her as Hayley was to him He was reluctant at first when he saw Hayley at the Ceilidh, even though he clearly stood out to Hayley, Fraser never actually wanted to be around her, but after seeing no one else, he walked up to her and started talking about recent events. A bit later, his mother pulled them to the dance, which they both, in unison, yelled 'No!', which implies that they enjoy each other's company more than they show, and perhaps, even more, they know themselves. At first, they reluctantly held each other's hands, with Hayley disliking it and refusing to let Fraser guide her. After their first round, Hayley eventually allowed Fraser to guide her and even did not bend her back when the two got closer. It was even implied that Fraser was the one who was inching towards Hayley, however, this could just be part of the dance. In the end, they criticized Sarah and Ben for being together even though Sarah was married, meaning they opened up to each other like old friends. After the Ceilidh, Fraser and Hayley were out in the open, with Willie McGregor closing in. Fraser wanted to ask what Willie was doing out so late but realised Willie will ask the same of him, so as he frantically thought of an excuse, Hayley threw her arms around him and kissed him. Fraser was dumbfounded, but after Willie caught them, Willie did not have a good reason to tell the police on them, seeing them kiss, so he apologised to Fraser. Hayley then brushed the situation off like it was nothing, implying she was not embarrassed at all and that kiss was something that she, herself enjoyed. After this incident, the two became closer, however, did not engage in a confirmed romantic relationship, but one could only speculate what happens after the story, which places Hayley, a presumed love interest to Fraser. Plot Fraser is aboard a boat with a man named Ben McCaig. They battled the waves as their ship is caught in a storm. Ben asks him whether if he was feeling fine, in which Fraser replied that he was fine. But in truth, he lied; he has never been out at sea during a storm. Ben then asks him if he was going to be sick again, which Fraser replied that there was nothing left to puke. Fraser then remembered that he slipped out of the house to be here, in the middle of the night, and his father was going to kill him when he returned which Ben joked, "Not if the storm kills you first!". Fraser then asked where the whales were, which implied that they were out to watch whales. Fraser then spots a light, which he identifies as another boat. However, then he looked back, the light disappeared. As he looked in another direction, he saw more lights, which was Skulavaig, a town on Nin. He gave the directions to Ben, who said that they were half a mile (approx. 804 metres) too far north, and if they continued sailing for another five minutes in that direction, they would have hit cliffs (according to Ben). The cliffs they would have hit, we could only suspect, was the same cliff Hayley and Dunny were standing on, as in Hayley's monologue afterwards, she saw dim lights from a boat that was sailing close to the shore. After Ben correctly steers the boat to Skulavaig port, Fraser thought he had heard someone yell 'Help!'. He was unsure at first, but after leaning on the rail and hearing it once more, a voice yelled, 'Help me!'. It was unmistakable, so Fraser shouted at the wheelhouse, at Ben, that someone was in the water. Ben replied that it was the wind playing tricks. However, Fraser was certain he had heard something, so he again focused his ears to the ocean, but the voice was gone. He turned his eyes towards the stormy sea, and he thought he caught a glimpse of an arm and head around a cliff, which he thought was a breaking whitecap. He thought of the light he had seen in the ocean, not the Skulavaig lights, but the unknown boat's. He thought maybe that that boat maybe lost one of its crew, or sunk altogether. He staggered back into the wheelhouse and told Ben that he saw someone in the water, which Ben replied by saying that he was imagining it. However, Fraser insisted that he saw someone, which at first, Ben replied by saying it was the waves, but when Fraser said that he saw an arm, Ben wavered for a second, before asking if Fraser was certain. Fraser now was uncertain of his own eyes, his confidence began to fade. Ben saw it too and said that in the dark, your eyes play tricks. Fraser still insisted that he had heard someone cry out, which Ben replied that it was the wind. Seeing Fraser's insistent attitude, Ben kept his calm and argued that there was no one in the water and that he was chasing whales, not ghosts, which kept Fraser quiet. Fraser now is in doubt if his mind was playing tricks on him, yet he could not stop hearing someone and seeing someone drown in the dark waters. The morning after the storm, he sat with his legs hanging over the side on the stern of Ben's boat. It is implied that Fraser kept getting dreams during the night before, about the drowning man, crying for help. Ben then came up from the side of the hull and dipped his paintbrush in the paint bucket Fraser was holding and continued painting the name of his boat, the Moby Dick, which Fraser thought was appropriate for a whale scientist's boat.'' Ben thought it deserved a new name as it was the boat that got them out of that terrible storm two nights ago. Beneath the faded paint, a port registration number read, SK712, which identified it as a Skulavaig vessel. Thinking about the cries of the man, Fraser asked Ben if any dead man or ships washed ashore, which Ben replied as there being nothing yet. Ben then told Fraser that no one was in the water, and no vessels sailed at that time before finally telling him to let it go. Ben then asked Fraser, changing the subject, what his father thought of his mid-night escapade, which Fraser replied in saying that his father did not even realise he was gone. To his astonishment, Fraser thought he would get grounded and yelled at when he returned home but found the house empty. Fraser hid under his bed, awaiting his fate, but a while later, Dunny, his younger brother, came from outside, dripping with rain. Dunny usually walked out all by himself, either on the beach, or somewhere else, but not usually at night. When Dunny received 'the last word', Fraser started to hate his brother. When he was still hiding under his bunk, he heard an American girl speak with his parents, whom we can only assume was Hayley, telling Fraser's parents about Dunny's escapade. The sound of feet brought him back into reality as Willie McGregor approached them. He appraised them and the boat for surviving and even said that the ''Moby Dick has been through worse, which immediately caught the attention of Fraser. Willie told him that the storm they were in was nothing compared to his sail when a hurricane emerged from St Kilda, and when the decks were filled with water at waist-high, and St Elmo's fire (a natural phenomenon when sailing) was dancing around the wheelhouse.